Friday, January 24, 2014

Did we really think the Iranian government would agree to dismantle its nuclear programme? Apparently the Obama administration did, but according to Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif they agreed to no such thing.

In a CNN interview in Davos, Zarif claims the U.S. "tried to create a false impression" regarding the P5+1 Interim Agreement saying:

"...the White House version both underplays the concessions and overplays Iranian commitments.”“The White House tries to portray it as basically a dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program. That is the word they use time and again." “If you find a single, a single word, that even closely resembles dismantling or could be defined as dismantling in the entire text, then I would take back my comment.”

Problem is, no-one will have the opportunity to prove him wrong since the document will never be released since it allegedly has classified information.

We either have liars or some incredibly naive and stupid people leading this country. I think we have both.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Many moons ago I was interviewed by some talk show host who tried to ridicule me for my reasons for remaining anonymous. He refused to believe that conservative actors could lose work over their politics. I tried to explain that perhaps well-known, Hollywood celebs might still get jobs, but that even then, some have complained about less work. And the theatre world is even less tolerant than the film world, so I wasn't surprised to read that Latina singer/actress Maria Conchita Alonso was asked to resign from a Spanish language production of Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues." The play was slated to open at the Brava Theatre Center in a mainly Hispanic area of San Francisco, and Conchita made the mistake of filming an ad campaign for would-be California governor Tim Donnelly. Donnelly is a Tea Party favorite, which did not sit well with the theatre producers especially considering his views on immigration. Then there were the people threatening to boycott the production, and it was bye-bye Conchita.

“We really can’t have her in the show, unfortunately,” Eliana Lopez, the producer of the show scheduled to run in the heavily Hispanic Mission District, told KPIX 5. “Of course she has the right to say whatever she wants. But we’re in the middle of the Mission. Doing what she is doing is against what we believe.”

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The boycott Israel folk (BDS movement) have been targeting SodaStream, a machine that makes, well, soda, and it's been working. Apparently, they've lost money the last year, but so will many of the 900 or so Palestinians who work in the West Bank factory. But the BDS movement, don't seem to care.

“SodaStream has always been a target of the BDS movement, and has developed into a major campaign since late 2011,” a BDS spokesperson told Al Arabiya News.

“We reject any suggestion that the reality that Palestinians are sometimes left with no choice but to work in illegal Israeli settlements is a reason not to take action to end international complicity in human rights violations,” the spokesperson added.

Maybe SodaStream, which has 20 manufacturing facilities worldwide, should just shut down the factory in the West Bank. Maybe that would make the stupid BDSers happy.

The company produced a video in December 2012 touting the benefits Palestinians gain from working there, including health insurance, and much better pay. Though the pro-Pali site The Electronic Intifada claims it's not true. No surprise there.

And no surprise that uber-lefty organizations like CODEPINK support BDS.

However, SodaStream has tapped Scarlett Johansson to be its "celebrity brand ambassador." That, of course, has caused a furor.

“It was very surprising that Scarlett Johansson has decided to become the new face of Israeli apartheid, especially given that she is also an Oxfam ambassador,” said the BDS spokesperson.“We’re sure she'll soon realize that there's nothing green about Israeli apartheid.”

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Iranian's state news agency, FARS News, believes the U.S. is run by aliens. Yes indeedy, those sci-fi extraterrestrials from outer space apparently form a shadow government that runs the country alongside its human counterpart. And where did they get that idea from? Edward Snowden.

“were actually two governments in the United States, the one that was elected, and the other, secret regime, governing in the dark.”

Snowden was probably referring to what some conspiracy theorists believe to be the "Illuminati', and as far as I know they aren't supposed to be little gray thingies with bug eyes. Of course it probably didn't help that Canadian former Defense Minister Paul Hellyer (who believes in UFOs and that aliens live among us) has claimed that Snowden's "revelations" were "accurate."

Then you have the actual FARS news source on whatdoesitmean.com as reported by Sorcha Faal. Not that FARS is very good at vetting its sources. Remember when FARS plagiarized the satire site "The Onion" that claimed white Americans preferred Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Barack Obama, or that Facebook was a front for the CIA?

Oh, and one of the many species of aliens living on our planet was instrumental in the rise of Hitler.

Can we now just stop blaming everything on the "aliens" instead of the Jews and the Zionists? Please?

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

According to a post by Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish, besides young people, for Obamacare to work it needs the almost 15 million uninsured Hispanics to sign up (many of whom are young), and yet the Spanish language ACA website CuidadoDeSalud.govis a mess. Apparently, there are links to English forms, translations that appear to be "computer-generated", or more than likely from one of those on-line free translation sites.

It is hard to believe that the same team that won two elections is so hampered by federal contracting rules that it can produce something like this. There are worse examples of how government cannot do many things right – but this one, run by technocrats, with plenty of time to prep, will loom large in the public’s imagination for some time.

Sullivan, who considers himself a conservative, actually voted for Barack Obama.

The 26-year-old ex-US Army intelligence specialist Craig Benedict Baxam who was caught trying to join al-Shabaab in Somalia in 2011, was just sentenced to 7 years in prison for destroying his computer, plus 5 years of supervised release. The idiot apparently converted to Islam shortly before he left the military and wanted to fight with one of the most extreme Islamic terrorist groups in existence. Baxam was arrested by Kenyan police as he tried to cross over into Somalia.

He was charged and sentenced for destroying his computer which had information that would aid in a terrorism investigation.

His defense said the lad just wanted to go practice his religion, even though FBI agents who interviewed him in Kenya said:

"... that he would fight against any country, including the United States and his former colleagues in the U.S. Army, if Al Shabaab controlled areas were invaded or if anyone tried to institute a democratic government there."

So what happens to him when his 12 years is up? He's left to plot his way to get to heaven and those 72 virgins??

Monday, January 13, 2014

The University of Michigan (Institute for Social Research) ran a poll in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey to find out what most people felt was an appropriate way for women to dress in those Muslim-majority countries.

The infographic below shows the six different styles of dress people were to choose from. The white hijab was the most popular choice for most.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

The National Board of Review had its annual pre-Golden Globes dinner. Emma Thompson is up for a Best Actress award for Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks", where she plays P.L. Travers, the creator of "Mary Poppins," and Meryl Streep was there to heap praises on good 'ol Emma. Meryl's 9 minute speech included a rant against Walt Disney himself for his anti-women, anti-Semitic stances, all the while calling Emma "practically a saint." Meryl even wrote a poem for her buddy Emma titled "An Ode to Emma, Or What Emma is Owed."

Calling Emma practically a saint all the while criticizing Disney for supporting anti-Semitic lobbying groups? Doesn't Meryl know that Emma is queen of the anti-Israel Boycott and Divestment movement, which is just another form of anti-Semitism?

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Well, here's some good news for a change. After a continuing battle against growing Islamism in Tunisia post-Arab spring, Tunisian MPs have voted for civil rather than Shariah law for the land, though Islam will remain the country's religion.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Remember this is from a Muslim site, but obviously a more enlightened p.o.v. Whoever wrote this has pegged the ten angry types very well.

Just a sampling:

1. Preacher Man

Harbouring an unhealthy obsession with ‘infidels’ and all things kafir, products of grimy unbelievers, the excruciating agony of the hellfire dominates the fire and brimstone televangelist preacher’s every thought. In an effort to save souls he rails against the decay and degradation of Western society and can often be found regaling simple fellows of the joys and superiority of a certain kind of Islam, while attacking other faiths and denouncing women. His every sentence is punctuated with quotations from the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet. Although physically a mess, he is also quite imprudent. He will not rest until Shari’a is implemented on the planet, for which incidentally he needs to become a citizen of the US or Europe with attendant social housing and state benefits.

The other 9 include:

Rocky, the fighter
Tambourine Man
the Orthodox man
the Puritan
the Exceptionalist
Movement Man
the Zealous Convert
the Conspiracy Theorist
and the Pious Package Holiday-Maker.

Friday, January 03, 2014

Apparently North Korea has a means of executing state enemies called "quan jue"- that's where the victim is stripped naked and then fed to hunting hounds in a cage. According to Wen Wei Po, a pro-China newspaper based in Hong Kong, that was the fate of Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-thaek and five of his aides. 120 dogs finished them off in an hour and witnessed by the 31-year-old Jong-un, and 300 or so DPRK officials including Kim Jong-chol, his older brother.

Al-Arabiya says of the leak:

The leak of the brutal execution by a newspaper known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese government has raised speculation about China’s growing frustration with North Korea especially after the purge of senior leaderships with close ties to China.

The Global Times, linked to the Chinese Communist Party organ, followed up on Wen Wei Po’s report with strongly worded editorial calling upon China to no longer coddle North Korea, according to the Straight Times.